Gen 4 - Cain & Abel

Headlines

Prayer

Alright, so tonight we continue into our look at the book of Genesis. Genesis is divided into two sections, Chapters 1-11, and 12 - 50. At Chapter 12 we will begin with the life of Abraham and then Issac and Jacob. But these first 11 chapters are the beginnings of everything.

Before getting into chapter 4, I wanted to share some additional info on the end of chapter 3.

Genesis 3:20–24 NASB95

20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Our grasp of the importance of verse 21 is foundational to our understanding of chapter 4. Which is of course the concept that our own efforts, fig leafs, if you will, do not and will not be sufficient to cover our nakedness. “Our sin.” Here God is laying down concept of the sacrificing of an innocent life and its blood as atonement for our Sin. More on this in a minute..

The second thing is new to me and it has to do with verse 24.

Genesis 3:24 NASB95

24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

First, note that cherubim is plural for cherub. These are the heavenly beings that serve Yahweh at His throne. So why are there two required? (One angel alone killed 185,000 in one night!)According to the Ancient Targum of Jerusalem these cherubim represent the place of Gods presence as He dwells between the cherubim. ( we see many examples of this from the Tabernacle and the Mercy Seat to the Holy of Holies.) and has moved His presence from the garden to the East entrance of the garden for this purpose, “to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Religion or works by our own efforts, will not ever allow one access to the Tree of Life. Only “the Way” that Yahweh has determined.

Notice again- the cherubim guard “the way” to the tree of life.

Interestingly, “the Way” is what early Christians were called, people of the Way. God was making sure that only through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is “the Way”, could one have access to eternal life, the tree of life, if you will.

It’s all about Yeshua, the whole book.

Now let’s stand and read our text for tonight’s study;

Genesis 4 NASB95

1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. 11 “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. 18 Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; 24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” 25 Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.

So let’s dig in;

Genesis 4:1–2 NASB95

1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

First, do not presuppose that Cain was the first of Adam & Eve’s children. A & E had many many children perhaps hundreds over their lifetimes. Cain’s name means “gotten.” Eve was just like all of us in that she did not know exactly how God was going to do His will. Perhaps she thought this one, Cain, would be the promised Seed.

V2 gives us some additional important detail. A brother to Cain is born, He is called Abel (Hebrew is Hebel), which means breath. The verse goes on to tell us that Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer.

Now again we have no time frame as to their ages as we get to verses 3-4 but we assume they were adults.

Genesis 4:3–5 NASB95

3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

Now this account can be easily misunderstood if we do not understand the totality of the message of the bible as a whole. We have discussed that the “scarlet thread” that is woven throughout the scriptures is the plan of redemption.

So here we learn that both Cain and Abel are bringing an offering to the Lord. How did they know to do this? Many of us believe that the idea of offering and sacrifices came about at the time of Moses. But as we dig in we see these different forms of worship were being practiced long before.

Consider, God told Noah to differentiate between the clean and the unclean animals, he was to bring 7 of the clean and 2 of the unclean. How did he know what was clean? It seems God had shared these things with Adam and Eve in the Garden.

So here in our text Cain brings from the fruit of the ground and Abel brings a lamb from the flock. But God accepts one and not the other. Why?

We know that offerings of other than animals were acceptable, as in a meal offering or grain offerings or of first fruits. So what’s up here? Secondly, how did the know whether God accepted them or not? Because it seems by Cain’s reaction that he immediately knew.

Let’s deal with the second first, How did the know God accepted their offering? We are not told exactly but we have many instances of God manifesting His presence by fire.

Leviticus 9:24 NASB95

24 Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Judges 6:21 NASB95

21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

1 Kings 18:38 NASB95

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

1 Chronicles 21:26 NASB95

26 Then David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the Lord and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

So it would seem that God answered with fire from heaven and consumed the offering from the flock.

So why didn’t God accept Cains offering?

Hebrews 11:4 NASB95

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Here we learn it was a better sacrifice because one it was offered in faith and it was done in Gods way. There is nothing bad about the fruit of the ground but here God was requiring a blood offering. We are not told but maybe this was an offering for Sin.

Hebrews 9:22 NASB95

22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Perhaps Cain was just wanted to do it his own way. He may have thought his work was just as valuable as Abel’s. Why should he have to buy a lamb from his brother.

The problem is it was not God’s way.

It is interesting that as we look at Abel in other passages we learn that Abel was the first prophet. Jesus calls him a prophet in Luke;

Luke 11:50–51 (NASB95)

50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,

51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’

Also, if we look carefully at our text we find something unusual. Look at v4;

Genesis 4:4 NASB95

4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;

Here, by bringing the fat portions we see Abel performing the duties of the priest.

So we see that God’s Word and plan has existed from the beginning and was delivered to mankind from the beginning.

Video - Amazing: Christian symbols hidden in ancient Chinese characters 9:30- 12:30

We move on;

Genesis 4:6–8 NASB95

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

So, we see the emotion of not getting our own way. Of being rejected in a sense. Here, Cain is angry, the Hebrew word for angry means to be hot or burn. In a sense Cain is mad at God. God tries to encourage him but warns if he cannot control himself Sin waiting to take him.

How many sins of passion have ruined lives. One of the most forgotten fruits of the Spirit is self control. In some languages the word sin here is translated as a demonic spirit. We like Cain have the power to say no to evil impulses, unfortunately Cain killed his brother over his lack of self control.

Genesis 4:9 NASB95

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

With that answer to the God of the universe we should ask why didn’t God just kill Cain right then? After all the law is an eye for an eye a life for a life.

Maybe better to ask why didn’t God just snuff you out. So God pronounces a curse on Cain but allows him to live in hope that he would repent.

Genesis 4:10–15 (NASB95)

10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.

11 “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

You should see here the great evil of abortion in the US. the blood having cursed the ground.

12 “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!

Remember, Cain was a farmer so his efforts to grow crops would be greatly diminished.

14 “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.

We don’t know what the sign put on Cain was and it makes no difference as he and all his progeny died in the flood.

Now we get a brief look at Cains descendants;

Genesis 4:16–24 (NASB95)

16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Nod means wanderings, it may be a place or a state of being.

17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.

This brings an interesting question. Where did Cain get his wife? Well it seems that he would have had to marry a sister or cousin. Remember at that time there may have been many thousands of people on the earth. The genetic line being very pure and with lack of mutagenic solar rays, from the water canopy, they weren’t dealing with the same issues one would today with breeding with a close relative.

We continue,

18 Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Note: this is very early in the history of man.

23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah,

Listen to my voice,

You wives of Lamech,

Give heed to my speech,

For I have killed a man for wounding me;

And a boy for striking me;

24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

So we will pick the last few verse of Chapter 4 in our study of Chapter 5. Next week look at the reality of codes imbedded into Torah. Very interesting stuff.

Everybody ought to know...